SCOTLAND’S spending watchdog has been asked to probe allegations of ‘cronyism’ and ‘jobs for the boys’ within South Lanarkshire council.

An eight-page letter detailing the claims has been submitted to the Auditor General for Scotland, Robert Black, and the chairman and deputy chairman of the Accounts Commission for Scotland .

It purports to come from “a group of senior managers in South Lanarkshire” although the copy seen by the Advertiser is unsigned.

A spokesman for the commission said: “I can confirm that we have received the letter and are currently considering a course of action and will be making that decision (in the near future).”

The writer or writers of the letter say they are “no longer willing to sit back and watch the council degenerate into a second-rate organisation as it has done in the past five years due to the inappropriate behaviour...of the ruling Labour Group”.

The writers say the council is “in desperate need of new blood”.

They are critical of the South Lanarkshire practice of appointing internal candidates to senior management positions – a point also made by the Accounts Commission themselves in their audit of the authority in 2009.

Council bosses have insisted that the appointment of candidates ‘from within’ is a reflection of their strong internal training programme.

However, a confidential personnel file accompanying the letter to Mr Black suggests that one senior official was appointed to a top post even though he performed poorly in the council’s own ‘Leadership Development Programme’.

The letter also questions the appointment to council jobs of relatives and friends of senior councillors.

It adds: “While there are allegedly processes in place which should allow us to report such abuse, it would be impossible to use them for fear of our jobs.”